6 Cambodian military police detained over violence

Six Cambodian military police were placed in pretrial detention Friday, charged by the Prey Veng Provincial Court over a police pursuit in March in which a truck driver and his assistant were allegedly shot at, beaten and hog- tied after blowing through a pair of military police checkpoints, local media reported on Saturday.

"The court charged (the six) with intentional acts of violence with aggravating circumstances and intentionally causing damage," the Cambodia Daily quoted Meas Sopheak, chief prosecutor in Prey Veng, as saying."Investigating Judge (Heng Sokchea) has sent them to pretrial detention at around 5 p.m."

According to the Criminal Code, the six face between two and a half and seven years in prison if found guilty on both charges.

On the evening of March 19, truck driver Nen Sida and his assistant, Thoeun Noeub, were transporting a truckload of rice through Tbong Khmum province when they blew through two military police checkpoints, which Sida said he believed were illegal and set up by rogue officers attempting to extort money from commuters, according to the newspaper's report.

Military police gave chase, finally bringing the truck to a halt in Prey Veng's Svay Antor district after allegedly firing shots from an AK-47 assault rifle through the windshield.

According to the victims -- and photos circulated online -- the two men were then beaten and hog-tied before being dumped at the district police office.

At Friday's press conference in Phnom Penh, Sin Sophany, chief of the National Military Police's justice commissariat, who led the investigation committee, showed a number of photos of the bloodied victims at the scene, including one where an officer is standing on a victim's head. "We have found that they will admit to shooting, scuffling and arresting, but none agreed that they beat up and tied (the victims) ,"the Cambodia Daily quoted Sophany as saying.

Sophany said the detained officers -- three from Prey Veng and three from Tbong Khmum -- had breached the moral standards of the military police and Royal Cambodian Armed Forces as well as violated the law. "The fact is that these are brutal actions that can't be accepted,"he said.